Monster Menagerie: Manticores

Bonnie BruendermanFriday, February 07, 2014

've seen quite a few folks in the Multiverse excited to meet another manticore on Theros. I am too! My first experience with a manticore was alongside Bink as he tried to get to Humphrey for answers. They have fascinated me since! Most stories say manticores are so ravenous that when they eat a man they leave no possessions, clothing, or even boots behind. Good thing I'm a woman.

*pets the pretty kitty*

Manticores typically have the head of a human, but with many rows of sharp teeth; the body of a red lion; and a scorpion's tail. If they have wings they are bat-like, not feathered. Magic has stuck to these rules pretty well.

Well, more like guidelines, really. Mirrodin throws things off a bit by introducing metal Masticores . These are essentially manticores, but according to Multiverse:

"A Masticore is a magically created artifact creature. It's design is as follows: the body and mane of a lion, a scorpion's tail, and a roughly humanoid face with a huge mouth with multiple rows of teeth like a shark. [It] should not look like a 'robot' but rather a magically animated creature, fashioned from Metal. The creature can repair [itself] by 'eating' metal and metabolising it into repairs."

They look like this:

Although the myths about manticores originated in Persia, it was Ctesias, a Greek, who first spread the idea in the West in his writings. Theros, our top-down Greek-mythology-based world, wouldn't be complete without its very own manticore. The newest addition to the menagerie was ushered into creation by Ken Nagle; you can read more about the technical design bits in his article. But we're here for the flavor and art!

Color: White Blue Black Red Green enchantment creature Location: The sky. Action: Show us a massive manticore that is flying through the sky. He should have an epic, Hellenistic vibe to him, flowing mane, amazing musculature. He could be streaking across the sky leaving a trail of Nyx starfield. He is an enchantment creature, make sure that he gets the Nyx effect Focus: The Manticore Mood: Awesome Greek manticore cranked to 11.

Bonnie Bruenderman is a visual designer for DailyMTG. The authors write the articles; the editors edit; then she gets to add cards, images, funnies, charts, graphs... whatever the article needs above and beyond the text. She has a very nerdy sense of humor. (Someday, her illustrated mutant amalgamations shall take over the Multiverse! Patience, my pet. Patience.....)